Adventures with Boys

"Hey Mom, what do you think is big enough to reach the roof?" The 12 year old asks

"What? Why?" I respond

"Because my football is in the gutter and need to get it" he responds

"You are not climbing on the roof" I say

"Why not?" he asks

"Really?" I respond

"You just don't know how good my balance is" he says as walks away disgruntled at being thwarted once again by his over protective mother.

Just another normal day raising my boys. I talk a lot about raising my boys when I have indeed managed to raise a girl to adulthood. The fact is she just never asked to climb on the roof I have been spoiled.

Cleaning up after boys is always a grand adventure. My middle son loves snakes and it is a constant battle in the house as to why Mom just won't let him get a live one of his very own. He does have quite a collection of replica snakes, some are quite real looking. There was the time I made his bed, shook out the comforter and froze in place when a replica fake snake fell onto my foot. It took a good five seconds for me to come to the realization that the snake was indeed fake.

Laundry time is another adventure. Today a 1950's silver pickup truck came out of the washing machine shiny clean after it got the deluxe wash in my front loader. The cleanest matchbox in town!

My boys have their own TV area. When I was a kid I was lucky to have a phone in my room at age 16, spoiled by some standards and I sure as heck did not have my own TV. The kid's TV area in my house has cinema type recliner seating, an all leather coffee table/trunk and a 52 inch HD TV hooked up to a Wii and cable. When we built this room we envisioned hours of family time taking place but the fact is, video games and SpongeBob Square Pants took over.

I cleaned that room today, as I do about every third day. Here is a list of finds that awaited me.

Candy Wrappers
An empty Gatorade bottle
A tiny skateboard truck
A tiny skateboard missing a truck
One googly eye
One very crusty sock (found behind the chairs)
Several fall leaves
A lollipop stick
One empty milk cup
One Wii remote under the chair
Lots of dirt from some body's shoe
Three pairs of tennis shoes (one particularly stinky)

When I hit the googly eye I just thought it all was very funny. I thought at that moment that there will come a time in my life when there will be no chance of every finding a random googly eye on my floor. Crusty socks will be but a memory and candy wrappers will always land in the garbage.

I remember when they were all babies and I was cautioned that I would miss the days of diapers and crying and tiny clothes and socks. I have to be honest, I don't miss diapers but I do miss tiny socks and first smiles, a coos and snuggles.

I suppose I will also miss dirty boy smell covered with Axe spray cologne. I will miss the excitement of seeing the bugs one of them just caught or the goal in a soccer game but by that time there will be new first and grand adventures to catch and see and experience. Until then I will continue to document their crazy behavior and all the googly eyes I find.